Biographies of the Secretaries of State: Colin L. Powell

Introduction

Colin L. Powell was appointed Secretary of State by George
W. Bush on January 20, 2001, after being
unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. He served for four years, leaving the
position on January 26, 2005. He was the first
African-American to serve as Secretary of State.

Colin Luther Powell, 65th Secretary of State

Rise to Prominence

Powell was born on April 5, 1937, in the New York City neighborhood of Harlem.
The son of two Jamaican immigrants, he was raised in the South Bronx. He
attended City College of New York, and it was there that he began his military
service, joining the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC). After his graduation
in 1958, Powell was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. During
his 35 years in the Army he served two tours in Vietnam, was stationed in West
Germany and South Korea, and acted as President Ronald
Reagan's National Security Advisor from 1987 until 1989. In 1989
he was promoted to the rank of general, and was appointed by President
George H.W. Bush to the position of Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff. In the four years Powell served in that capacity, he
oversaw 28 crises, including Operation Desert Storm in 1991. After his
retirement in 1993, he founded America's Promise, an organization which helps
at-risk children. He was nominated for Secretary of State by President
George W. Bush on December 16,
2000.

Influence on U.S. Diplomacy

At the beginning of his term, Powell placed an emphasis on reaffirming diplomatic
alliances throughout the world, supporting a national missile defense system,
working towards peace in the Middle East, and prioritizing sanctions instead of
force in potential hot spots such as Iraq. He also
focused on reinvigorating U.S. diplomacy through reforms in the Department of
State’s organizational culture and an infusion of resources for personnel,
information technology, security, and facilities.

Powell's term, however, was soon dominated by the challenges the Bush
Administration faced after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Powell was
one of the foremost supporters of taking swift military action against al-Qaeda
and demanded immediate cooperation from Afghanistan and
Pakistan in the U.S. search for those who were
complicit in the attacks.

When the Administration's attention shifted to Iraq and the possibility that
Saddam Hussein was manufacturing weapons of mass
destruction (WMD), Powell pressed to have UN inspectors investigate. In February
2003, Powell presented intelligence to the UN that supported the claim that
Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and could produce more.
Subsequently, the Administration moved quickly toward preemptive military action
against Iraq, despite Powell’s advice that war should not begin until a large
coalition of allies and a long-term occupation plan were in place. In 2004, some of
the intelligence that Powell had brought before the UN in 2003 was found to be
erroneous.

Although Afghanistan and Iraq demanded a great deal of Powell’s attention during
his tenure, he pursued other important U.S. foreign policy initiatives and
grappled with various crises that arose between 2001 and 2005. After initially
difficult Administration interactions with Russia and China, Powell worked to
improve both bilateral relationships. Prominent among these efforts were
management of U.S. withdrawal from the U.S.-Russian Anti-Ballistic Missile
treaty and the signing of the Moscow Treaty on Strategic Offensive Reductions in
May 2002.

In the area of foreign aid, Powell pushed the Administration to increase its
commitment to the international fight against AIDS, and oversaw a doubling of
development assistance funding. He also pressed for international cooperation to
halt the nuclear weapons programs of North Korea and Iran, and the
Administration achieved an important nonproliferation success when Libya agreed
to give up its weapons programs in 2003.

Powell confronted a variety of international crises as well, including a near war
between nuclear powers India and
Pakistan in 2001-2002, domestic turmoil in
Liberia (2003) and Haiti
(2004), and the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. His continued belief that Middle
East stability required a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict led him
to advocate the 2002 “Road Map” that aimed at creating an independent
Palestinian state at peace with Israel. Although President Bush endorsed the
plan, Powell was not able to persuade the Administration to make a strong
commitment to its implementation.

On November 15, 2004, Powell announced his
resignation. After stepping down as Secretary of State, he returned to a busy
life in the private sector continuing his work with America's Promise Alliance.
He serves on the Boards of Directors of the Council on Foreign Relations, the
Eisenhower Fellowship Program, and the Powell Center at the City College of New
York.